Next year, of course, means the one hundred year anniversary of the start of World War I. The last year of peace and hope of a fresh century, about to turn into the bloodiest years in human history. One hundred years ago from right now (this moment, already fleeting) would place us in 1913. The idea stuck in my head, and I pondered it the next day, while I battled a raging hangover. As we talked, we hit upon the idea of a One-Hundred-Years-Ago-Tonight party that would celebrate the fashions, foods, drinks and dress of people who walked and lived this day a century before. Mostly, this conversation consisted of me trying to convince everyone how much fun a lumberjack-themed night would be. Thus, the period costumes.ĭuring the party – celebrating the speakeasy era of gangsters, flappers, and moonshine – we started planning other theme parties for the future. For whatever reason, as we get older, my social circle has decided that nights of raging drunkenness need some patina of class. This was the third or fourth theme party I’d been to in the past twelve months. Mostly, this conversation consisted About a month or so ago, I attended a theme party to celebrate a friend’s birthday. During the party – celebrating the speakeasy era of gangsters, flappers, and moonshine – we started planning other theme parties for the future. One of Britain's greatest historians, Sir Alistair Horne, CBE, is the author of a trilogy on the rivalry between France and Germany, The Price of Glory, The Fall of Paris and To Lose a Battle, as well as a two-volume life of Harold Macmillan.moreĪbout a month or so ago, I attended a theme party to celebrate a friend’s birthday. very readable almost like a historical novel - except that it is true' Alastair Horne uses contemporary accounts from both sides to build up a picture of heroism, mistakes, even farce' He has a splendid gift for depicting individuals' Horne sorts out complicating issues with the greatest clarity. The Price of Glory is the essential book on the subject'

'Verdun was the bloodiest battle in history.

It shows that Verdun is a key to understanding the First World War to the minds of those who waged it, the traditions that bound them and the world that gave them the opportunity. Its aim was less to defeat the enemy than bleed him to death and a battleground whose once fertile terrain is even now a haunted wilderness.Īlistair Horne's classic work, continuously in print for over fifty years, is a profoundly moving, sympathetic study of the battle and the men who fought there. It was a battle in which at least 700,000 men fell, along a front of fifteen miles. Its aim was less to defeat the The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 is the second book of Alistair Horne's trilogy, which includes The Fall of Paris and To Lose a Battle and tells the story of the great crises of the rivalry between France and Germany. The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 is the second book of Alistair Horne's trilogy, which includes The Fall of Paris and To Lose a Battle and tells the story of the great crises of the rivalry between France and Germany.